Never-before-seen photos of murdered schoolgirl Charlise Mutten show the happy nine-year-old celebrating her last Christmas.
The murder trial evidence released by the NSW Supreme Court also includes images taken the day before she was shot dead by the evil monster she called ‘daddy’.
More grisly images were released of the brown plastic barrel in which Charlise’s body was found upside down in the fetal position, bound with tape and weighted with sand on the banks of the Colo River.
Daily Mail Australia previously reported that the scene where Charlise’s remains were discovered was so gruesome that police were left traumatized and required leave.
“There will be people who will not come back to work for a while,” says a source.
The photos, along with police interviews with Charlise’s killer Justin Stein and a recording of the Triple-O call by Charlise’s mother Kallista who reported her missing, were released at the end of Stein’s trial.
Stein, 34, a drug abuser from a wealthy family, was found guilty on Wednesday of Charlise’s murder between January 11 and 12, 2022.
A jury found him guilty after a month-long trial and then eight days of deliberation before Judge Helen Wilson.
The convicted killer, who shot Charlise in the face while she was on vacation with him and her mother, Stein’s then-fiancée, faces life behind bars.
Charlise Mutten is pictured on Christmas Day 2021 – her last Christmas, and just a few weeks before she was murdered – in new photos released by the NSW Supreme Court
Charlise is seen with her mother Kallista Mutten on Christmas Day 2021, when the nine-year-old was on holiday in Sydney with Kallista’s fiancé Justin Stein, who has since been convicted of her murder
Justin Stein (above) was Kallista Mutten’s fiancée from a wealthy family, but in reality the former couple were drug offenders and had met while serving prison sentences
Murder evidence released by the NSW Supreme Court includes gruesome images of the brown plastic barrel in which Charlise’s body was found upside down, bound with tape and weighted with sand on the banks of the Colo River
Stein had pleaded not guilty to Charlise’s murder and lied that it was instead Mrs Mutten, 40, who shot her daughter in the NSW Blue Mountains.
Stein had claimed that after Mrs. Mutten shot her daughter, she secretly placed Charlise’s body in the barrel and strapped it to the back of his body without his knowledge.
But the jury didn’t believe him.
Mrs Mutten denied any involvement in her daughter’s death and burst into tears when confronted with the accusation in court.
Many of the facts of the case were not in dispute, including that Charlise died from gunshot wounds she suffered on or near a Mount Wilson property owned by Stein’s mother, the jury heard.
During Stein’s trial, the court heard about the “unconditional love” between Charlise and Kallista, as well as the child’s growing affection for Stein through FaceTime calls.
“She said she really liked Justin and asked me if he would be a good father,” said her grandfather Clinton Mutten.
The very last photos ever of Charlise Mutten (left) in a swimming pool three days before her murder, and (right) smiling on the night of January 10, 2022. A day later she was said to be dead
The .22 BSAQ scoped rifle that police say Justin Stein killed Charlise by shooting her in the face
The barrel with Charlise inside was dumped in the bush near the Colo River, 60 km from where Charlise was shot dead on Stein’s property, ‘Wildenstein’. Daily Mail Australia previously reported that the scene was so gruesome that police were traumatized and required leave
When Charlise finally came to NSW for the holidays, she had had a successful school year in which she had won a literacy award.
Clinton Mutten also told the court that the young girl loved animals and dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
In the last week of Charlise’s life, the court heard, Stein and Kallista’s romance was all but over.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC said Stein was the last person to see Charlise and had the opportunity to kill her between 7.16pm on Tuesday, January 11 and 10.06am on Wednesday, January 12.
Justin Stein is convicted of Charlise’s murder in August.